Sugar Bowl a chance for Quinn, Russell to shine

By Connor Byrne | Tuesday, January 02, 2007 | ( 0 )

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In one of the most intriguing big-game matchups of the 2006-2007 college football season, 11th-ranked Notre Dame will battle fourth-ranked Louisiana State in Wednesday's Sugar Bowl. Not only does the contest pit two of the game's best head coaches in the Irish's Charlie Weis and the Tigers' Les Miles, it also sees a pair of the nation's brightest young quarterbacks, Brady Quinn and JaMarcus Russell, take the field.

Notre Dame's Quinn and LSU's Russell, both slated as surefire first-round picks in April's NFL draft, are out to end their collegiate careers on high notes (assuming Russell, a junior, does depart Baton Rouge).

Quinn, despite putting up gaudy numbers during the regular season and finishing third in the Heisman Trophy voting last month, enters the game under the harshest scrutiny. For in games considered "big," Quinn and his Golden Domer teammates have struggled mightily, including embarrassing losses to BCS mainstays Southern California and Michigan during the season.

As a whole, the Irish finished the season a rock-solid 10-2. However, by examining its schedule, one finds the team hardly beat worthwhile opponents. In fact, only one of Notre Dame's victories came against a ranked team (the Irish brutalized Penn State, which was No. 19 at the time, back on Sept. 9, 41-17).

Nonetheless, with the help of some key offensive weapons (running back Darius Walker and wide receivers Jeff Samardzija and Rhema McKnight), Quinn threw for just under 3,300 yards, 35 touchdowns and only five interceptions. In terms of statistics, the 22-year-old senior had the type of season other college QBs marvel at.

Facing the Tigers' third-ranked pass defense in his final game, Quinn will have a mighty difficult time trying to close his Irish career on a positive note. Clearly, a poor ending would add more fuel to the fire of his detractors. With a Joe Montana-like effort against LSU, however, he'd cement himself as the nation's best quarterback.

Thanks to the popularity and prominence of Quinn, many are quick to forget the aforementioned Russell, who happens to be among the country's most physically gifted signal callers. The 6-foot-6, 260-pounder is a throwback to a healthy Daunte Culpepper. Russell not only has a rocket arm but he can also utilize excellent speed and tackle-breaking ability to get out of the pocket and make an impact, as evidenced by his seven-carry, 71-yard effort against Tennessee in November.

Thanks in large part to the Mobile, Ala., native, the Bayou Bengals, who hail from arguably the nation's toughest conference, the SEC, compiled a stellar 10-2 regular-season mark. They managed to knock off two teams that were in the top 10 when they played them -- No. 8 Tennessee, 28-24, and fifth-ranked Arkansas, 31-26 -- and put up a great fight against one of the BCS title game's representatives, Florida, which is also an SEC member.

Russell's 26-touchdown, seven-interception performance during the season wasn't quite on par with Quinn's ratio, but he did accumulate a QB efficiency rating of over 16 points higher, at 168.51 compared to 151.59.

Russell and his top three targets in the passing game -- Dwayne Bowe (60 catches, 11 touchdowns), Craig Davis (52 receptions, 15.1-yard average) and Early Doucet (51 grabs, eight scores) -- could have a field day against Notre Dame's middle-of-the road, Tom Zbikowski-led secondary, which ranked 50th against the pass during the season.

Whether Russell decides to leave the collegiate ranks early will be decided in the near future, but Quinn's absence from South Bend will soon be permanent. More than likely, Russell will accompany his Sugar Bowl counterpart to the NFL, which means he'll need a big game to possibly climb into the top 10 on draft boards. Meanwhile Quinn will be playing to cement No. 1 overall status, a dubious honor that belongs to the Oakland Raiders.

When the action's all over with late Wednesday night, Russell's Tigers will likely come out on top. Unfortunately for the Irish, they'll have to prove they even deserve to be in this high-end BCS game. Because of Notre Dame's struggles against upper-echelon schools over the years, many have called its selection into this annual New Orleans battle ridiculous.

If Weis' team has any pride, it'll come out firing. Miles' group, however, will have a thing or two to say about that.

Get more on this month's big bowl games at RealFootball365.com.

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